The Day the Universe Changed by James Burke

Author:James Burke
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Technology & Engineering, Science, Technology - History, General, Science - History, Mathematics, Technology, History
ISBN: 9780316116954
Publisher: Little, Brown
Published: 1985-04-14T10:00:00+00:00

In 1763 the end of the Seven Years War meant that the government was no longer in urgent need of capital, so the rate of interest on borrowed money fell to 4 per cent. Bridge water extended his canal to Runcorn, connecting south-east Lancashire with Liverpool, and was thus able to sell coal at half its normal price. Whereas transportation of coal by road had cost £2 a ton, on the canal the price was six shillings.

Three types of canal were built in the next forty years. Wide canals were constructed mostly in north-east and north-west England and Scotland. Narrow canals, centred mainly in South Wales and around Birmingham, made up the cheaper routes with locks up to only 7 feet wide. The third type of canal, the ‘tub’, was built in the south-west and in Shropshire, on the steepest gradients. At the height of canal-building a narrow boat 70 feet long and 7 feet wide could go anywhere in England south of the rivers Trent and Mersey. To the north, barges up to 53 feet long and 13 feet 6 inches wide could be used.

The cheapest methods of construction were used in building the canals. Engineers preferred to follow the contours of the land rather than cut through hills, because the length of the canal was no drawback so long as boatmen’s wages remained low. Tunnels were cheaper than cuttings, and eventually over forty-five miles of them were built, the longest being that on the Huddersfield canal at Standedge which was 5415 yards long. Some canals, such as the five-lock staircase on the Leeds and Liverpool at Bingley, were marvels of engineering.

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